Gone to the Birds

Our Flicker

So this will probably sound odd, but if you have a child's birthday or even an adults get them a bird feeder!  On a stressful day I can look out my "office" window at my window feeder or out my kitchen window and watch the wonderful birds I have at my feeders and I think my blood pressure goes down so fast.  Nature works in amazing ways and it is a wonderful stress reliever and educational tool for my kiddos.  Just a few of the birds I see; Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Pileated woodpeckers, Red bellies woodpeckers, Downy woodpeckers, Flickers, Junkos, Bluebirds and the list goes on.  I have 2 suet cake feeders, 2 normal bird feeders, a window feeder and a bird bath.  I also have 2 humming bird feeders in the Spring/Summer. 

My kids get to learn so much from having these feeders.  They have small bird guides that they can look up what they are seeing.  We are a bit crazy and name our birds.  Our Pileated Woodpeckers are Sparkles and Woody!

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on food, you can always do a birdbath.  My bluebirds who are beautiful love the water source.  I just have a plant saucer with a rock in placed in the middle on the railing of my deck.  Doesn't have to be fancy!  Also the hummingbird feeders are a good low cost option since you just need sugar and water. 

So I know some people would say it isn't good to feed them because they will become dependent.  First, they wouldn't need fed if we didn't destroy so much of their natural habitat and second they aren't stupid.  They will find food in other places if it isn't available at your house.  Feeding in the winter months just helps them get through the tough period of the year.  More info coming on plants you can put in your yard to help these birds and our monarch butterfly population!  

I use black oil sunflower seed in my feeders and then a high protein suet cake.  See below for some feeder ideas.

Suet Cake Feeder

Black Oil Sunflower Feeder

Hummingbird Feeder

One last note, read up on feeder placement.  It is important so birds don't hit your windows, etc.  I also find you have to be super careful if you have hummingbird feeders or plants that attract humming birds that you keep your garage closed.  They often get trapped in garages.  

Sound Bot

My kiddos really only take showers now, which is great.  My older two take them in the morning and I have found it is a great way to wake them up and it seems to make the morning much easier getting ready for school.  They both like music along with my husband so I got them this for Valentines Day.  It is called SoundBot and suctions to the shower wall.  It plays our Iphone music through blue tooth.  It sounds much better than just having the phone on speaker in the bathroom and you can change songs if you want.  You can also answer a phone call.  Could be great for boring morning conference calls when you need to multi-task.  Just sayin! They are on sale for $11 on Amazon so it was a steal.  

Amazon Sound Bot

Baby/Toddler Magazines- Great Gift Idea

If you are looking for a gift that keeps on giving, magazines are a great idea.  Children love getting mail, so that is a second bonus!  My mom gets credit for this post, since she was the one who started getting my kids hooked.  This is now on my list for friends birthdays, but also a wonderful baby gift! All in all my kiddos have had about 9 magazine subscriptions so I thought I would break this down into two posts, the first being centered on Baby/Toddler Magazines. These range from $20-$40 for a year subscription, but sign up for their emails or check for specials and you can usually get them cheaper.  I have kept all of the ones we have gotten and my oldest son is 7.  They hold up and can then be used for subsequent children.  Here are my top 3 picks!

Highlights Hello     Age 0-2
You may have heard of Highlights.  They have been around for a long time, but now they make a magazine for babies.  This is my favorite as a newborn baby gift.  The magazine is made with safety in mind. No sharp corners, no staples and a material that holds up to mouths!  The size is great too, easy to throw in a diaper bag or purse as a quiet activity.  The magazine is focused on great visuals, short rhymes, and stories.  Because of the great pictures, it is fun to read to even an infant.  My youngest daughter has always loved doing the "Find It" section.  I think the age on this is accurate.  I wouldn't start a subscription for anyone older than 2.   

BabyBug        Age 6 months-3 years
BabyBug is produced by Cricket Media who puts out a ton of kids magazines.  I like this option because the stories are a bit longer, making the magazine as a whole longer than Highlights Hello.  Babybug has stories and rhymes, but also starts introducing the ideas of Letters.  (Pictured below)  There are no staples in this magazine either and the pages are very sturdy. Babybug can be fun for a early reader sibling to read to a toddler too.
 

Wild Animal Baby       Ages 2-4
Produced by the National Wildlife Federation, Wild Animal Baby is the first stage of the Ranger Rick magazine series.  As a nature lover this is a big favorite in my house.  One unique feature is it's wildlife photos, sure to be great fun for any child.  Through animals the magazine features learning about shapes, numbers, letters, rhymes, nature and there is always a short story.  This one comes in at only $19.99 for the year with 10 mailings, making it pretty affordable.

Reading, Learning, Spending time with your child all add up to a great gift in my book!  Let me know if you have any other baby/toddler magazines we should check out!   

Green Toys

Toys, ahhh a necassary evil.  Ok, they aren't that bad, but for this OCD mom the last thing I want is a ton of them laying around.  So I try to find toys that are fun, HAVE NO BATTERIES, maybe a little creative, and if I am super lucky educational.  I mean if a toy isn't fun though they won't play with it.  So in this day in age there aren't a lot worth talking about, but I do love Green Toys.  They make toys out of recycled plastic.  Most if not all are BPA free.  They are also made in the USA.  This little flower garden set gets a lot of play time at my house.  My 5 year old still likes to create pretty flowers with it and my 2 year old also adores it.  Great fine motor working to put the small flowers into the stems too.  Its simple but great!  We also have their dish and gardening set.  They have some pretty awesome boy trucks, trains and rockets too!  Check them out for your next toddler birthday!

Green Toys 

FYI Amazon also carries these, a little cheaper and Free Shipping with PRIME!

Books on CD

We drive a lot!  It might be to activities, grandparents houses, etc.  My kids have tablets, watch shows etc.  I am not too proud to admit that, but sometimes they even get sick of the gadgets and they were always wanting me to read.  Well if I am driving that is not an option and plus I get car sick super easy these days.  So, when another great neighbor (See a theme here) told me her son was really into listening to books on CD, I thought BINGO!  I got the kids some of their favorite book series (another post for later on) and thought we would try it out.  You have to love this because it is free if you get them at the library!  The kids loved it and were even listening to them in a big CD player we had upstairs before bed.  However, my husband was a little less than thrilled that we had to listen along with them.  So I did some checking on BestBuy and they actually still sell portable CD players!

We got the Insignia  CD Player which was around $20.  They come with headphones, but not great  ones.  My kiddos all have the PotteryBarn Headphones for their tablets and we have loved them.  They hold up and are comfortable.  My only complaint is there isn't any sound control.  I heard lots of friends with young kiddos raving about the KidRox Headphones for this reason.  They have a max of 85db and are also super reasonable.

So try it out!  They have all kinds of levels of books on CD from the read along short books to chapter books to long non-fiction!


Best Buy Insignia CD Player

PotteryBarn Headphones

KidRox Headphones